Over the last decade, state-owned national oil companies (NOCs) have become increasingly important in the global oil and gas sectors. Their rise is also a key part of the trend toward state capitalism in many emerging markets.

While NOCs generally lack capacity in some of the industry’s cutting-edge technologies, in many cases they have the advantages of low-cost capital from state-controlled banks and strong backing from their home governments.

This environment challenges the dominance of privately held Western international oil companies, but presents opportunities for these firms to partner with NOCs on projects of mutual interest.